Do you think there are some QBs who just can't win the big one? And do we have one?

[ABQCOWBOY]

When all else is said, I think you must agree with one single point, where QBs are concerned. A good QB can effect a team more then any other position on the field. If you have a difference maker, you are able to effect change. Simple as that IMO.

 

[RCowboyFan]

After watching Peyton Manning stumbling through his press conference, I felt bad for him because he is forever labeled as the choker, whether or not he deserves it. In college and in the pros, he just can't win the big one. He's going to go down like Dan Marino, a guy with a gazillion yards, but never wins the big one. There are other QBs with that tag.... Jim Kelly, Marc Brunell, Donovan McNabb, Steve Young (yeah, he got one SB, but we knocked him silly the other years).... All great QBs who in a long career never seem to get their team past the hump no matter how close they get.

Then there are the winners, the guys like Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana who folks will forever remember as winners, even though they missed out on quite a few big games, they won enough of the big ones to make people forget about the bad times. If I could pick some of the newer QBs who seem to have this lucky trait in today's NFL it would be Jake Delhomme and Ben Roethlisberger. They just seem like guys who win and play above the level when it counts.

Do you think it's fair to label some of the veteran QBs as chokers when they rely on so many other players to win the game? Do you think Drew Bledsoe has that tag? One of those guys who doesn't have the "knack" for playing his best ball during the Playoffs.

Peyton Manning's body language when things wrong, tell you a lot about how that team will go in that game. He gets frustrated and his teams starts playing bad. Not to mention, you have Harrison, who also always chokes in a big game. Great guy and all, but plays small in big games, and its the same most often with Edgerrin James. But it all comes to Peyton, on how he deals with Pressure situations.

His happy feet is just annoying, when he gets sacked couple of times or gets hit few times. There is a reason NE was always successful against him. Or why SanDiego played so great against Colts. If you notice, Pitt followed that blue print yesterday.

On the other hand, you didn't see happy feet in say Jake Delhomme, who by all means, didn't have as great regular season as his stats indicate. But when things are on the line, he has played great, especially on the road. Which is the same normally with Brady, other than saturday's game.

Bledsoe past five year record indicates what he is. He plays bad as soon as bad things happen to him on the road especially.

This also reminds me of what I read about Troy Aikman or maybe I saw in NFL films highlights. Cowboys were trailing by lot of points and he said to his Lineman and others "Just do your job guys, block the guys and let me worry about the score etc.". Thats where a great QB and a QB like Peyton, who keeps shrugging his shoulders, shaking his head in disgust etc. differ, in winning big games IMO.

 

[burmafrd]

The haters will never give bledsoe any credit; and his defenders will find every excuse. Nothing new here.
Trying to be fair: OUR O LINE SUCKED. NO QB was going to do very well.
Manning sucked when pressured; Brady got pressure and did not play well. Those are by consensus the two best QB's playing now. So judge Bledsoe the same way: he got pressured A LOT MORE THEN THEY DID.

Now bledsoe is not a Staubach or a Brady; he will not make those kind of great plays that they did. BUT he can do a GOOD job for you if you protect him. He proved that early this season. We had a choice- scrap the next year or two and go with untested, unproven young QB's; or get the best available older QB. Option #2 was chosen. Only time will tell how this works out.

IF we fix the O line next season and have a good running game, BLedsoe can post Pro BOwl #s= and that would be plenty to win the division, maybe even get home field advantage (though this year that does not look like it means that much). AT THAT point then we should be able to make a run for it all. Then we wil know just how good BLedsoe is- if things work out as we hope we would be among the 2-4 best teams in the league- with as much talent as he has ever been associated with. AT THAT POINT there would be no excuse if he does not perform at least SOLIDLY in the playoffs.